Franchise Focus Business News…

We blogged last week about our upcoming trip to London and now that we’re all back in Dublin and truly rested up after a busy few days we’d like to say how much fun we had and also, how great it was to meet so many of the franchisors who use our site as well as so many visitors to the show who use our site on a day to day basis.

Attending a franchise exhibition such as The Franchise Show is so important in the process of starting your own business through a franchise opportunity, and it was heartening to see so many people who had carried out a lot of research on each franchise before coming to the event. It can a wasted opportunity to attend an event without knowing what the franchises are about first and on the flip side, franchisors are rarely interested in taking on franchisees who are going into something blind-eyed – they want a franchisee who knows what they’re getting into and will be ready to work hard to achieve great results. Franchisors that we spoke to at the event were genuinely impressed with some of the enquiries they received and we were delighted to hear that a lot of attendees at the show has used Franchise Direct as a resource tool before travelling to the show.

A very valuable attraction at the show was the schedule of seminars which were taking place during the show. Varying from six different tracks each aimed at a different attendee – the seminars covered the topics of “buying a franchise”, “developing your existing business”, “international franchising”, “franchising your business”, “encouraging women into franchising” and “franchising after redundancy”. I would strongly encourage attendees at any similar show to attend these seminars as the speakers have a wealth of information to share with those looking to enter the franchise industry – they’re free too!

We had lots of fun at the show, in fact we even treated ourselves to fish manicures and laser treatments! Dr. SpaFish, one of the most colourful franchises at the show, allowed us to dip our hands into tanks full of tiny little fish who love to nibble on the dead skin cells on your hands. This was lots of fun and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who would like super soft hands afterwards! Also, a franchise which has featured on our site for quite a while, Laser IT Technologies treated both myself and Lillie, our accounts manager to a laser face lift and a medilipo treatment respectively. After Zita from Laser It kindly carried out a free treatment on my face, I could see stress lines that were on my forehead had reduced after and felt fantastic, in particular because I got to lie down for an hour having spent lots of time on my feet in the convention hall.

We ran a giveaway amongst the franchises exhibiting at the event to win a profile on our site, and we’re delighted to say that Cash and Cheque Express are the winners after Toni from Arc Media drew the winning business card. I was especially delighted because they had given us a free bag of sweets the day before from a mountain of them which they were giving out to attendees, but that’s not the reason they won…I swear!

All in all, the biggest benefit for us attending the show is that we actually got to talk to some people who are on our site on a regular basis either as those who are looking to invest in a franchise, those who are looking to franchise their business and so are using our site as a research tool and also the franchises who feature on our site. Because we’ve been in the franchise industry for over 10 years now, and we are one of the leading franchise portals not just in the UK, but also in the US and the European market, we understand that we have to listen to both our clients and the users on our site in order to keep at the top.  We’ve set up a survey for users to our site to give feedback on our site, and we really appreciate those who take the time to take the survey, we appreciate them so much that we have 3 Philips MP3 Players up for grabs for those who take the survey. To take the survey, simply click on the following link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HowDoYouLikeFranchiseDirect

Also, if you’re disappointed that you missed last week’s show, then never fear because there is a franchise show in London again next month in the Olympia, to find out more details and to register for free entry, simply visit this page: http://www.franchisedirect.co.uk/franchiseseminars/the-franchise-exhibitions-07837/

Below are some pics from the show.

Lillie, our lovely Accounts Manager

Lillie and I with the Dr SpaFish mascot

Me having lots of fun splashing my hands around

Lots of little fish having a good nibble on my hands

I was having a great time! I got my stress lines lasered by the very fabulous Zita

Toni from Arc Media, Franchise Direct's Brian Rogan and Cash and Cheque Express' David Wheeler

Ashley Dyer from Morgan Blake Consultants, Lillie and Arc Media's Sam

Franchise Direct’s UK team will be attending this week’s Franchise Show at ExCel in London (Friday 18th and Saturday 19th). We will be at Stand 112 for anyone who would like to come along and find out more about Franchise Direct and what we can offer our users as well as existing and potential clients.

With over 100 franchise brands including over 20 US brands, and 65 speakers at the event, The Franchise Show is an important date in the franchising calendar.

We have always considered meeting with a franchisor face to face to be one of the best opportunities to explore a franchise opportunity further. Our discovery day calendar details lots of upcoming discovery days organised by different franchises across the UK.

If you are attending, be sure to explore The Franchise Show’s website, read up on some of the franchises which you are interested in, taking note of their stand, write down some questions you would like to ask and most of all enjoy your time at the show.

You can order free tickets to the event on the show’s website: http://www.thefranchiseshow.co.uk/

Can’t make it this week? Explore our franchise expo calendar for details of upcoming franchise events in your area.

In a new series of blog posts, we aim to take you from the initial concept of becoming your own boss and starting your own business right through the business start up process and into running your own business, finally winding up with a discussion of when is best to retire and the process of reselling your franchise.

Deciding to take the big leap from going from paid employment to becoming your own boss and being self employed is a huge step; one which should not be made lightly.

Entrepreneur is a big word to use, however it describes quite a substantial section of the UK population who run their own business. According to a report recently published by the Dept. for Business, Innovation and Skills, there are currently 4.8 million private sector enterprises across the UK, employing 22.8 million people. 99.9% of these enterprises are classed as Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SME’s) and account for an annual turnover of just under £1,600 billion.

So why should you become part of the growing group of small business owners across the UK? Here are a number of reasons why:

1. You earn your own income
2. You decide how to run your business
3. You can be proud of your own success
4. The flexibility to work how and when you want to suit your lifestyle
5. Running your own business offers you a new challenge
6. You can’t get fired

A large percentage of young people in the UK dream of starting their own business, however few ever begin to realise this dream. When you look into the amount of support offered by the UK government along with the amount of start up financing initiatives available from financial institutions, starting your own business doesn’t seem as daunting as it may have before.

Some useful resources for small business entrepreneurs include the government’s Business Link website, which is a very valuable resource including everything you need to know about securing financing, support initiatives as well as healthy tips and advice on starting and running your own business. Your local chamber of commerce should also provide you with support and advice on starting your own business.

In the coming weeks, we will list great resources for securing start up financing as well as other outlets and institutions which offer support to small business owners.

Next post in this series will be on choosing between a franchise and business opportunity.